A Beautiful Mind...

 For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it. - Ivan Panin

Whilst poking about on the world-wide-inter-web and feeling mighty inspired by the crafty work of others I came upon a lovely little site called A Beautiful Idea.  The brainchild of Miss Evie Shaffer, A Beautiful Idea sets out to save the world, one craft at a time.  The concept is simple, artists create artwork, artists sell artwork, artists donate proceeds to A Beautiful Idea and the money goes to those in need.  The best part: crafty-folk can choose how much to donate and every six months (or when the donation goal has been reached) ABI focuses its' efforts on a new charity.  So far the site appears to be in its nascent stages and still searching for supporters.  It is a small, small world, dear artists, and creating changes like this are highly encouraged.

To join the movement or check out the full scoop, go to www.beautifulidea.us

Mr. French, Revisited a.k.a Progress Report Part II

I knew that I had been missing some pretty priceless pictures, but I did not know that they were so easily accessible.  These coveted pictures were hiding on my ancient digital camera, which had a dead battery for approximately seven months.  Oh, the joy of joyous occasions it was when I discovered the most pricelessest of priceless pictures; the one and only, Mr. French.  You may recall from some very old posts, that I was doing a portrait for some friends of mine, of their beloved pooch.  Here, finally, eight months after the painting was completed and happily hanging in it's new home, is the finished product!  Hooray! 

p.s.  Congratulations to Momma and Papa French, they are tying the knot!

Progress Report.... part 1

Today I spent some quality time working on the portrait of Mr. French and I do believe that I've made some headway! Hooray! 

I may have jumped the gun by telling a certain someone that this thing would be done by the end of the weekend (oops).  I often forget that oil paint takes several days to dry and then there's the fact that I'm not quite finished yet.  Oh the joys of wishful thinking.  Luckily, that certain someone is quite understanding and hopefully won't mind waiting on Mr. French for a few more days. 

More to come!

Monsieur French

Mr. French will be the subject of my next portrait and his parents are very supportive and enthusiastic. French is an amicable sort of chap with a great sense of style and though you can't tell from the picture he is rather rambunctious! I'm pretty excited to start painting. Look for future posts of the progress of the painting.